The legislation, sponsored by O’Connor, requires employers to provide safe and reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees.

"The passage of this bill is a no-brainer for both economic and moral reasons," O’Connor said in a written statement Tuesday. "We are far better off as a community when we remove any barriers that exist to entering or remaining in the workforce. The commonsense protections laid out in this bill will ensure that pregnancy is no longer a hindrance to women seeking to advance their careers."

The legislation makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate against, refuse to employ, or terminate an individual due to pregnancy or a condition related to pregnancy, including lactation or the need to breast feed a nursing child.

State Attorney General Maura Healy said approval of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act by Baker is an important step towards achieving equality in the workplace.

"We know that 75 percent of women will be pregnant at some point in their working lives and too often they are forced out of their jobs – or forced to take absences from work – at a time when they and their families need the income and job stability the most," Healy said in a written statement.This law will help ensure that employers provide reasonable accommodations to address the needs of pregnant women and nursing mothers. I applaud Speaker DeLeo, Senate President Rosenberg and the House and Senate for passing this legislation, and thank Governor Baker for signing it into law today."

Reasonable accommodations an employer must provide a pregnant worker under the legislation may include time off to recover from childbirth, more frequent and longer paid or unpaid breaks, procuring or modifying workplace equipment or seating, obtaining a temporary work related transfer, job restructuring, a lighter workload and private non-bathroom space for expressing breast milk, among others.

Employers are now to be prohibited from taking adverse action against an employee with a pregnancy condition who requests or uses reasonable accommodations.

The legislation also prohibits an employer from requiring an employee with a pregnancy condition to take a leave of absence if another reasonable accommodation can be made without undue hardship to the employer.

Employers are also prohibited by the legislation from refusing to hire a person who is pregnant or is dealing with a pregnancy if the applicant can perform the essential functions of the jos with a reasonable accommodation that does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.

The bill directs companies to engage in a collaborative, good faith process with employees and prospective employees to determine effective and reasonable accommodations.

Employers may, in specific instances, require documentation pertaining to the need of accommodation for an employee from appropriate health care or rehabilitation professional, but this provision does not apply to accommodating a workers need for more frequent restroom, food or water breaks, seating, and limits on lifting over 20 pounds.

The bill, which got the blessings of the Senate earlier this week, takes effect April 1, 2018.

O’Connor represents the Plymouth and Norfolk district, which includes the towns of Cohasset, Duxbury, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Norwell, Scituate, and Weymouth.